Somewhere between the aspiration and Hollywood, is a gulf where many would-be filmmakers are lost. This blog is about recording my insights, mapping the progress and unearthing the truth along the way.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Secrets

At the end of the article, the creator of the app is quoted as saying it's more about seeing into the collective subconscious of your friends.

That feels new...well at least new to see that sentiment exploited as an app and for profit. I'm not aware of the competitors.

I hadn't thought about it till now: I think we want to know that people are feeling and experiencing intimate and personal things so that we can feel OK expressing ours. I think, on some level, it's comforting to know that everyone isn't as fine as their last selfie suggests.

That idea is worth $100 million apparently.

Ideas are worth so much. But who has the time to air out the kinks? Who has nothing better to do than survive? The economy's changed so much in the last 30 years that for anyone below a certain income level to invest any energy in a dream is . . . brave.

I think everyone has something they need to get off their chest and some of those people become story tellers, or filmmakers more specifically.

But we can't be anonymous at that point. We have to be bold, outspoken and have a level of emotional resilience that can get pretty close to fanatical for those working without a safety net, a connection, experience, a proven track.

The intrepid filmmaker needs a place to get straightened out. And that should be school but I don't think it is because the institution typically doesn't have the incentive to level the playing field.

With Secrets being worth a $100 million, I think about the money paid for the passions expressed in film and realize there is great value in human perception. People want to know when others are struggling, feeling, growing. Secrets are the heart of stories - the height of character arc or the revelation of a plot twist.

About Me

I've worked too many jobs growing up that had no meaning and frankly the life before film-making is all a wash. I've never been tested the way I've been tested in this practice. And it's so not over.

I'm currently graduating with a B.F.A. in Creative Writing and a minor in Film. Was a thesis film away from a 2nd major in production and I'll probably always half regret not just doing it but without a matching education in micro-budget distribution and grass roots marketing, that 5-15 grand would have been a waste and a further burden added to my already steep student loans. Time to take it on the road.